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Paused Development

Dec 16, 2022

Hello fellow commanders,

You may have noticed it has been rather quiet around here lately. As mentioned in the Discord[discord.gg] a while back, I have paused development on Micro Annihilation. But, why?

[discord.gg]As you can see with the number of reviews, Micro Annihilation has not picked up much steam (no pun intended). As dear as Micro Annihilation is to me, being based on a childhood story I made up while playing with Legos and Dune II, Micro Annihilation was simply not bringing in enough income for me to continue.

You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

That being said, I really do wish to go back to Micro Annihilation. I was at the brink of the "spiders update," splitting the Toxians into three subfactions, the grubs, the ants, and a host of new enemy unit types all based on exotic spiders from around the world. I still look back on Micro Annihilation fondly. I even play my own game from time to time!

I hope to return to Micro Annihilation when I have more economic freedom to pursue it. In the meantime, I have been working on a bit more mainstream title, NO RELOADING, which I also love, but for very different reasons :-).

Thank you for supporting me and Micro Annihilation, and I hope to return for more miniature warfare in the near future!

Micro Annihilation

HEROIC Update

Jun 13, 2021

NEW FEATURE: Heroes 1.0

Your units can now gain experience, and eventually will be promoted!
Heroic units can be leveled up to ten times, where each level adds 10% damage, and 5% damage mitigation.
Heroes will reappear in future battles to fight by your side!
Each hero has their own background story.
Heroes lost during a mission stated in mission results.
Review your existing heroes, and your hero memorial, on the world map screen.
Enemy commanders may attempt to focus down your heroes!

NEW FEATURE: Streamlined Acquisition Point Economy

Upkeep has been replaced with a much simpler population system.
Ground combat units and Dragonfly consume one population space, whereas gunships occupy three. Non-combat units do not occupy any population space!
Your Command Craft, Ground Command, and Air Command each provide 15 capacity.
Added new Command Tower, which also provides 15 capacity.
Rare Earth Metal Extractors now generate a consistent 100 acquisition points per five seconds.
Refineries now provide 250 acquisition points per biopolymer. 1000 per full load (4 biopolymers) from the Collector.
Dropped biopolymers in the battlefield will now last five minutes, opposed to one, giving you a better chance to collect them.
Research Labs now double acquisition point bounties from killing enemies.

NEW FEATURE: HUD Upgrades

You can now select any Construction Yard to place structures, but regardless of which Construction Yard was selected, the closest will build the structure. This makes it substantially easier to queue up many structures, no matter where they are in the mission area.
Added Command Craft health bar to HUD, only visible once you have received damage.
Added arrow pointing to where your units were last attacked.
Added arrow pointing to where your command craft was last attacked.
MOM will now mention bounties in the third tutorial mission.
MOM will now warn in the third tutorial mission that the player is unprepared when the enemy commander strikes.
MOM will say, "New Acquisition Options," upon completion of a unit that can build other units.
MOM will now say, "Collector lost," when one of your collectors are destroyed.
Differentiated under attack messages spoken by MOM, so you know exactly what is being attacked.
Instructions text now mentions using the mouse wheel to control your altitude.

NEW FEATURE: Upgraded Particle Effects!

Nearly all particle effects have been updated to match the beautiful low poly style!
Disabled motion blur on many particle effects, which made them appear blurry.

NEW FEATURE: United Armies Lore Added!

Added three new lore entries regarding the history of the Micronian people and the forming of the United Armies.
Added one new lore entry explaining how Micronians name themselves.

Balance

Increased Flame Tank's maximum speed from 5 to 7.5
Increased Flame Tank's acceleration from 2 to 3.
Increased Melee Tank's maximum speed from 6 to 7.5.
Reduce laser tank's vertical angle, to make it less effective as an anti-air unit. 45 to 30 degrees.
Doubled biopolymer costs of research topics, as they were simply too cheap for the number of biopolymers received on average.
Increased physical damage from Assassin Ant's sticky acid, from 1.5 to 3 damage per tick.
Increased fire damage from Exploder Ant's sticky fiery acid to 30 per tick.
Buffed commander mutator traits. Each level of hit points, melee damage, ranged damage, range, speedy meleer, and speed now add more per level.
Abandoning or failing missions will greatly reduce any resources returned to the world map, if there were any to start with.

Polish

Greatly reduced ability for ground units to appear on leafy objects, like trees and bushes.
Raised structure foundations up a tad, to reduce z-fighting with the ground.
Removed ugly brick texture from buildings, with simple flat colors.
Your command craft will be less likely to go full speed into a wall, when near the wall.
Upon evolving, queens will send out all their platoons to attack.
Queens will now prioritize fulfilling the oldest platoons, resulting in more consistent attacks.
Now each queen will specialize in a narrow selection of tactics and compositions.
You can now hold ALT for mouse look.
State speed benefit in Command Craft Booster descriptions. 200%, 300%, 400%.
Spaced out natural formation a bit more.
Added tabs to Knowledge Base, so you can more easily look up research topics, friendly units, and enemy units.
Ground Command will not be visible until after the second tutorial mission.
Enemy commander on the third tutorial mission will now target structures to expedite your destruction.

Fixes

Cancelling buildings will return the AP spent.
Queued MOM quotes will now play properly.
Your collectors should no longer fight over the same biopolymer. How selfish!
Ground units drive past eachother more effectively.
Reduced how often air units need to repath.
Fixed numerous pathfinding issues with air units.
Air units should be able to chase enemies more effectively.
Units that land on top of other units should now slide off each other.
Fixed transport box alignment on air transports.
Reduced likelihood of air units get stuck on edges of obstacles.
Reduced likelihood of walk cycles getting stuck.
Reduced likelihood of structures snapping onto unintended surfaces.
Fixed hard crash if you press escape on the hangar cutscene.
Fixed bug where Commanders could not target ground units.

Micro Annihilation

RESURGENCE Update

May 11, 2021

NEW FEATURE: Commanders 1.1

Commanders remember YOU. They will boast about their prior victories against you. They will whine when you defeat them. They will surprise you mid-battle to ruin your day! And much more! Who will become your adversary? What will your story be?
Added four new commander traits. One example: some commanders are particularly cowardly...
Commanders can now surprise you mid-battle!
Added several new personalities.
Commanders now have unique appearances.
Added "Fluppp" as a possible grub commander name. (Thanks Fluppp for helping me when I was on vacation!)
Added "Frazzz" as a possible grub commander name. (Thanks Frazzz for the videos!)

By the way, you should join our Discord and shape Micro Annihilation's future!

[discord.gg]

NEW FEATURE: FINALES!

After a while, the enemy will decide to either "blitz" you, throwing everything they got at you in an epic finale, or they will retreat from the map to fight you another day.

NEW FEATURE: ZOMBIES and the Human Story

What has been happening to humanity during all of this?

Populated areas have a high chance of zombie hordes appearing.
Added numerous lore research topics, digging into humanity's story, and a little of the science behind the Toxian disease.

NEW FEATURE: Dynamic Challenges

The Toxians are more relentless than ever before. I'm really not kidding:
They push you to your limit. Only your strategy and your wits can save you!
Queens (properly) grow and evolve, unleashing larger spawns. Once they're suitably GIANT, they will come and crush you themselves!
Toxians are no longer hesitant to spam air units. Get ready for more of everyone's "favorite" enemy, the Stinger!
Fixed numerous "traffic jam"-like problems in the AI, which caused large gaps between enemy attacks.

NEW FEATURE: Intelligence Gathering

(Thanks AndyGeeMusic for the suggestions!)

Added Research Lab structure. When built in the battlefield, it will automatically gather information from enemies you slay.
You can see the enemy intelligence in the Knowledge Base
...and in the battlefield by mousing over enemies!
You can now see full data on all United Armies units in the Knowledge Base, selecting them, or by mousing over them.

NEW FEATURE: Acquisition Point Bar

The top right corner of the HUD now displays detailed information about your acquisition point economy.
Structures, air transports, and other non-combat units no longer cost upkeep.
https://i.imgur.com/rizANT4.png?1
Combat ground units have an upkeep of 1 AP.
Gunships have an upkeep of 3 AP.
Toxians drop less biopolymers, but is worth significantly more when collected.
Kill bounties are now displayed on HUD.

NEW FEATURE: Build Progress Below Health Bars

Purple build progress bar located under the health bar of the unit doing the construction, and the unit being built. (Thanks Isogash!)

And a ton more...

[expand]

Balance Changes

Renamed "Biter" to "Nibbler," to avoid name collision with Factorio :-P. Hey, I I didn't know! I thought it was a cool name!
Added new Big Nibbler that is fatter and deals more damage, but still as speedy as their little brothers!
Nearly doubled Rocket Launcher and Missile Launcher damage, to make them better fit their artillery roles. Rocket Launcher now does more fire damage, whereas the Missile Launcher deals more physical damage.
Collector's hit points increased from 250 to 500, and increased armor from 0 to 10.
Collector will now drop off resources when attacked, giving them a chance to shake off enemies.
Supply Depot AP cost increased from 300 to 500.
Reduced queen hit points.
Adjusted Toxian commanders' hit points.

User Interface

Enemy reinforcement direction is now displayed on the HUD.
MOM, the AI voice, now gives concise mission briefings in world map and battlefield for those who hate to read.
Made text boxes more narrow. (Thanks Isogash!)

Polish

Added third tier of Command Craft Boosters, for a total of three. The first tier can be unlocked almost immediately with only a handful of Rare Earth Metals.
Supply Depot's repairs spray pretty sparks now.
Widened unit formations.
Game will avoid playing the same environment type back-to-back.
Game will not present the player with large maps unless you have unlocked at least one level of Command Craft Booster, and Air Command.
Biopolymer crystals will only show up once you have the technology to harvest them. (Thanks Isogash!)
Added tabs to options. (Thanks Isogash!)
Added oodles of graphics options. Even field of view! (Thanks Ferrilata_!)
Volume now displayed as percentages instead of decibels. (Thanks Isogash!)
Transports now have a distinctive "drop off" sound.
Gatherer Ant is now brown instead of black.

Virtual Bugs, Not the Biting Kind

Units will acquire targets before the enemy is in shooting range. This lets them react quicker, especially against giant units.
Fixed inconsistent unit thumbnail orientations.
Street outside of play area no longer navigable by enemy units.
Tutorial missions are disabled if you have played any substantial amount of play time in a save.
Increased game performance in many regards. Threaded pathfinding, faster air pathfinding, and more!
Rare Earth Metal Extractors no longer are missing foundations in defense missions.

[/expand]

Micro Annihilation

Re-(re)-introduction Hotfix

Apr 11, 2021

A quick hotfix today, fixing some issues reported by our Discord[discord.gg]:

Fixed missing UI shader.
Warning that no resources were returned will not appear unless you have researched a resource gathering technology.
Underground base entrances now have proper pathfinding around them.
Fixed typo in Ground Command Construction research topic says.
Increased resolution of unit and structure thumbnail images to 1024x1024.

Want to contribute? Join our Discord today!

[discord.gg]

Micro Annihilation

(Re)introduction Update

Apr 1, 2021

This update adds a proper introduction to the story, and tutorials, to Micro Annihilation!

Big thanks to the players on Discord, who continually guide Micro Annihilation!

[discord.gg]

Introduction

At the start and end of every mission, you now get to watch your command ship fly in and out of the underground hangar!
You can finally see what a "Micronian," a member of the United Armies, looks like!
They're kinda cute!
...and positively tiny! Flowers for scale!
Added three hand-crafted missions, which teach the player how to fly their command ship, how to build their base, and how to lose. Yeah, you read the last one right.

Missions

Supply run and resource rush mission metal deposits now give 2X resources.
The camera now "flies" to your command craft at the start of each mission. A little bit of cinematic spice.
The Military Operations Mainframe, also known as MOM, will now inform you if you have unoccupied rare earth metal deposits.

Research Topics

Command craft booster now has a prerequisite research topic, ensuring it is available at an appropriate time.
Toxian Biology now unlocks the ability to gather intelligence on Toxian commanders.
Research button is now disabled if there are no research topics available.

Units

Melee units should now do a better job of getting in melee range than previously. Math is hard.
Enemy commanders now have their damage line up better with their animation.
Basic black ants now spawn the same time as their queens, which substantially reduces the difficulty of the early game.
Doubled flak cannon projectiles, halved physical damage.
Missile quad, missile launcher, and missile turret's turret vertical angle flexibility increased dramatically, allowing for easier acquisition of air targets.
Increased missile launcher range against targets above them, principally, air units.

Micro Annihilation

Quick Hotfix

Mar 23, 2021

Fixed rare invisible units bug.
Fixed air units going under ground due to numerous air units being rallied to the same position.
Increased the font size of resource information when a resource structure is selected.
Fixed spelling error in laser research topic.

These fixes were recommended by our community! Join our Discord now and leave your mark!

[discord.gg]

Micro Annihilation

The COMMANDERS Update

Mar 23, 2021

I am proud to announce the COMMANDERS update is now live!

This has been a massive undertaking, as evidenced by the two week duration between updates. That being said, I am confident you will quite enjoy the added excitement and surprises these new commanders and other AI tweaks bring to the game!

Not only that, we also included a solid pile of user experience improvements as well!

The Commanders

Enemy commanders will now appear on the world map as red holograms.
After each mission (essentially a turn on the world map), the commanders will roam around the map.
When an enemy commander enters your territory, a new Defense mission type will be available. If you lose the mission, the commander will take over your territory! Yes, this means the Toxians can now take your territory!
Commanders can have an array of traits, from preferred unit compositions, favored tactics, specialized units, and their own personality.
In missions, commanders are physically present, just like the player. They give orders and support their troops just like you do. They also can be killed just like you can be...

World Map Changes

You can now scramble troops. At the cost of world map resources, you can increase your starting acquisition points and unit count. Sometimes you really need the extra help!
Previously, the player participated in every single battle. Now, with enemy commanders, there is a possibility that multiple battles will be fought in the same "turn," but you will only be able to personally lead one of them. You can use the scramble troops feature to increase your chances of succeeding in the missions you are not personally leading.

User Experience

The mission objective is now clearly labeled at the top center of the mission HUD.
All units and structures in the build bar now have tool tips.
Tool tips will now appear if a weapon is particularly ineffective against enemy armor. For example, a Scout's machine gun versus a Soldier Ant.
Shooting heavily armored opponents now has a distinct spark effect with ricochet sound.
Resource structures now have give detailed information about resources and acquisition point generation when selected.

Units

Units now dynamically adjust their speed as to arrive at the destination together.
Units will automatically form up in resiliency order.
Increased quad's light missile launcher homing from 45 to 90. Increased missile launcher's heavy missile launcher from 45 to 60. Thanks @JammingEnd for recommending this change!
Laser gunship now costs 3000. Thanks @JammingEnd for recommending this change!
Increased cost of turrets +250, because their resiliency and build speed made them easily the best option for early defense. If you need a rapid defense, look at the existing Melee Tank or Flame Tank; they're cheap and fast to build.
Starting units now are more likely to choose cheaper units. Otherwise, it was possible to get some of the most powerful units immediately.
Vehicles now have engine sounds.

Command Craft

Added Enhanced Command Craft Booster research, allowing players to fly even faster!
The player's Command Craft can now deploy up to three Construction Yards, but at the full 2500 AP cost. This reduces the need to "leap frog" construction yards. However, "leap frogged" construction yards are still substantially cheaper.

Everything Else

Eggs will no longer spawn at the corner of the map when they cannot find a place near their queen.
Refinery is less sensitive to sloped terrain.
Toxian Origins research topic now has an image.
Resource deposits should be less likely to spawn on the edge of the map.
Unit icons no longer absorb mouse clicks.
Reduced desert map brightness. Thanks @Theplayer!
Added gatherer ant, so that the ants have their own resource gathering unit.
Burrowed Toxian resource gatherers occupy minimal space.
Bigger lights around muzzle flashes.
Fixed several (virtual) bugs.
Idle AI will now respond more effectively when attacked.
Commanders and queens can now retreat when attacked.
If there are no Toxians on world map, they will respawn in a random neutral territory.
Deleting a unit, such as a structure that is still being built, will remove its build order.
Air units should be less likely to be dropped off underground.
All units will run a periodic check to ensure they're not inside an obstacle. Long story... ugh.
The Escape key will now cancel build mode.
Some human structures were not accepting collisions correctly, which meant you could not build structures on them, or deploy units on top of them.
Enemy reinforcements are now tech-limited, based on time into the mission. This reduces the likelihood of early enemy reinforcements stomping the player with high level units.
Enemy resource gatherers now appear later in the game, reducing the difficulty of queens for new players.
Fixed connection between Japan to Hawaii.
Increased frequency player units commit time-delayable actions based on total units. In short, player units will seek targets faster.
Fixed grammar errors, typos, and inaccuracies in several research topics.
Several unit voices now correctly respect volume levels.
Rare Earth Metal Extractors should correctly snap, regardless of hills.
Construction Yard death should now cancel build state, removing build preview.
Decreased drop rate of biopolymers. It was getting kinda crazy.
Double biopolymer price of later research topics. Late game, players had so many biopolymers, and the prices were so low.

Micro Annihilation

Resource-Extraction-Mission-In-Your-Own-Territory Hotfix

Mar 7, 2021

A second hotfix has been published today, fixing an issue when carrying out a Resource Extraction mission from within your own territory. Enjoy!

Bigger stuff to come!

Join our Discord to provide feedback and discuss what's next[discord.gg]!

Micro Annihilation

Quick Hotfix

Mar 7, 2021

This hotfix fixes a rare issue where one player's mission timer did not count down correctly.

Bigger stuff to come!

Join our Discord to provide feedback and discuss what's next[discord.gg]!

Micro Annihilation

"I'll Get my Wrench" Update

Mar 6, 2021

First and foremost: THANK YOU FOR ALL THE FEEDBACK! Particularly, you Discord[discord.gg] folk have been the best!

A lone soldier is a dead soldier, when facing the Toxian hordes! Join our Discord[discord.gg] today!

World Map Changes

All territories can now be selected, and give a plethora of information.
You now earn passive income based on territories owned, and adjacent Toxian territories.
Added completion percentages to research topic buttons.
Added summaries to all research topics, separating the vital information from the lore.
Greatly increased the invisible soft cap on returning resources from missions.
Reduced enemy tech level progression through campaign. This should make the early game much easier.
Delayed the appearance of any of the advanced ants.

Battlefield Changes

After many days of sweat and tears, it should be tremendously more difficult for units to spawn inside inaccessible areas.
Added Command Craft Booster research. Once researched, hold SHIFT to boost your speed.
Each pellet in a flak cannon shot now deals 4 damage, instead of 1.
Increased flamethrower damage from 5 to 7.
Increased Laser Tank cost from 1000 to 1500.
Severely reduced area of effect from giant ant bites.
Rare Earth Metal Extractors now snap to their deposits.
Added rally point flag icons.
Turrets and supply depots now show their weapon and repair radii respectively.
Enemies will now send reinforcements at a fairer pace, quantity, and quality.
The difficulty of resource extraction missions should be less erratic.
Added "Return to World Map" button after a mission fails or succeeds.
Gave melee units a bit more range leniency.
Revised Ground Command strategic icon to accurately represent what it builds.
Added build preview to buildings that are under construction.
Music now recognizes when excitement level goes up, and amps up the music accordingly.

General Changes

The print screen key now takes a screenshot. You can go to the folder in Options.

All Changes

Every single change, itemized. Have fun.

World map nodes can now be selected, regardless of whether there is a mission.
World map node panel now displays owner faction.
Updated Ground Command strategic icon.
Units cannot climb the barn ramp.
Flak cannon damage 1 to 4 damage.
Passive income: metal from every node you own.
Passive income: biopolymers from each node that is adjacent to Toxians.
For timed missions like resource extraction, enemy reinforcements tech level now based on for time through mission.
Gave melee enemies a bit more leniency, particularly if they are large.
Increased options window size.
Supply depot no longer acts as a radar.
Build buttons now trigger mouse over events correctly.
Main menu posted note text is now black.
Send enemy reinforcements if no damage given or dealt in one minute.
Resource missions should no longer fail if you have very few units at the end of the mission.
Construction yard explosions was not using sound mixer, and thus oftentimes louder than other sounds.
Larvae death squeals are not using sound mixer, and thus oftentimes louder than other sounds.
Mission accomplished takes forever. Add a button.
Increased flame thrower damage from 5 to 7.
Increased laser tank cost. 1000 to 1500.
Added rally point flag.
Player can now receive an audible "Collector under attack" warning.
Added build preview on buildings that are under construction.
Initial enemy units that spawn on map now better respect enemy's tech level.
Show supply depot radius
Increased font size on research/knowledge base. Headers now use bigger font size, instead of blurry bold.
Mission results state why no resources were collected.
Severely reduced AOE from giant ants.
Turret radius now visible in build preview.
Rare earth metals extractors now snap to their deposits.
Buildings are now less sensitive to sloped terrain.
Enemy reinforcements now avoid spawning too close to a player's unit.
Increased mission timer font size.
Added screenshot button.
Added background to tooltip.
Tool tips are now easier to read with the new background.
Added Command Craft Booster research. Once researched, hold SHIFT to increase your speed.

Micro Annihilation

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